New headmaster forced to close school after roof fire

Sep 16 2010 Buckinghamshire Examiner

toby st george's

A NEW headmaster did not have a fantastic start to the term after a fire forced his school to close.

The blaze happened at St George's C of E School, in White Lion Road, Amersham, at about 7.30am last Friday and caused the school to remain closed for the rest of the day.

The school's new headmaster, Toby Long, who started at the school on September 1, said: "Since I arrived everyone has been so helpful, the children have been great and the parents very welcoming, so it's a shame we had to close the school on Friday but it was business as usual on Monday."

It is believed the fire was a result of an electrical fault, although the cause is still under investigation.

Five fire crews from Amersham, Beaconsfield and High Wycombe tackled the blaze, which took hold in a roof void above a corridor.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "The fire was dealt with within about half an hour. The amount of damage caused and severity of the fire was thankfully quite limited."

Mr Long said: "A small fire was detected on Friday morning. We phoned the fire brigade and they dealt with it quite quickly."

No stranger to Amersham, Mr Long had previously enjoyed a two-year stint as a teacher at the infant school five years ago. He said: "It's nice to be back here at St George's. I have new plans for the school which we are currently working on."